How luxury brands engineer desire with behavioural economics
From scarcity to market architecture, luxury fashion is manipulating our tastes. But a vintage countermovement has begun
by Charlotte Wren
Sam is a historian of early America with a particular interest in religion and politics. He was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and has been a faculty member at the American University of Beirut, the American University in Cairo and at Columbia University in New York City. He was a Senior Executive Producer at Al Jazeera America and is the author of The Origins of American Religious Nationalism (paperback, 2016). @samhaselby
Edited by Sam Haselby
For the Puritans, embracing God’s will could get dangerous
The group at the heart of American origin stories had a complex relationship with despair – and a need to reckon with it
by Alexandra M Lord
Asteroid economics: why we’re shopping our way through Armageddon
We must escape the psychological trap where grave warnings about existential threats trigger ever more destructive behaviour
by M I Krueger
The history of family offers a liberating view of custom and love
Chronicling the families of the past shows just how much family values, feelings and decision-making can morph over time
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Before it was ‘bittersweet’, nostalgia was seen as a parasite
Early modern ideas about nostalgia, infused with the elements of horror, invite us to think more deeply about human longing
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My great-grandfather poisoned drinkers during Prohibition
In a grim irony, his descendants – my grandmother and mother – struggled with drink. Here’s what I’d tell him about addiction
by Rebecca Lester
For this unsung philosopher, metaphors make life an adventure
Susanne K Langer understood the indispensable power of metaphors, which allow us to say new things with old words
by Sue Curry Jansen & Jeff Pooley
True solidarity requires Burke’s ‘sympathetic revenge’
Social media utterances aren’t enough. Burke’s stand against colonial injustice shows we must confront our own complicity
by Jack Jacobs